Refineries in the Americas produce a greater share of gasoline per barrel of crude oil than refineries in other world regions
14 July 2020
When processing petroleum, refineries can produce products in varying amounts to meet regional demands. The International Energy Agency’s Monthly Oil Statistics shows that there are differences in refinery output throughout the world.
In the Americas, gasoline accounted for just above 40% of the products refined from petroleum in 2019, while in Europe and Asia Oceania, gasoline was less than 20%. Conversely, in Europe, diesel accounted for 40% of the petroleum refined versus about 30% for the Americas and Asia Oceania.
OECD = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
OECD Americas: Canada; Chile; Mexico; United States.
OECD Asia Oceania: Australia; Israel; Japan; Korea; New Zealand.
OECD Europe: Austria; Belgium; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Switzerland; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Turkey; United Kingdom.
Source: International Energy Agency, Monthly Oil Statistics, February 2020, Paris, France., US DOE
A substantial part of this is due to the cheap natural gas in NA, which leads to cheap (polluting) hydrogen. Cheap hydrogen means cheap hydrocracking of heavy molecules to make gasoline.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 14 July 2020 at 09:14 PM
Hydrogen is also needed to produce diesel fuel; in some cases, even more than for producing gasoline. Hydrocracking of heavy components to make diesel fuel and jet fuel is a specialty of Swedish refineries. A large expansion is in progress, provided that a permission is granted by authorities and the Swedish Government. Hydrogenation of biocomponents to enable blending in diesel and gasoline fuels is also part of the concept and this will further increase the need for hydrogen.
Use of fossil-free hydrogen as a substitute for hydrogen from NG would be complimentary to blending biofuels into gasoline or diesel fuel. The real problem is to produce hydrogen from non-fossil sources in an affordable way. Currently, fossil-free hydrogen is far too expensive.
Posted by: Peter_XX | 15 July 2020 at 12:39 AM
I find that hard to believe. All motor fuel has to be desulfurized, and making light gasoline-weight chains requires more hydrogen than diesel-weight chains. I just don't see how diesel production would require more H2 even if you're starting from ultra-light crudes close to natural gasoline.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 15 July 2020 at 09:43 PM